Squeak! Squeak! Squeak!
"So… what's with you attracting rats all of a sudden?" As the entire village of Astarto got into a festive mood, celebrating the great success of their defense against the monster tide, Valyr sat behind a table with Alfaera, Damian, Tristan, and Myst, partaking in the delicacies that were on the table while chatting with the others. At some point, Tristan posed a question he wanted to ask to Valyr, causing the latter to give an innocent smile in response.
"Oh, nothing," replied Valyr, though multiple thoughts were going on inside his head. At the moment, rats were appearing out of nowhere, all of which had eyes that glowed a faint crimson as they headed to Valyr's feet in the hopes of biting him. However, with him still wearing armor, the rats were unable to deal any damage to Valyr, instead bringing themselves to their demise as small orbs of crimson flames hovered around the soles of Valyr's feet, vaporizing the rats out of existence.
"I got my hands on some incredibly strong rat bait back where I was in preparation for a dungeon run I was going to do, but I have a feeling that dungeon was already cleared. With that, I decided… why not use it here instead?" Making up an excuse on the spot, Valyr watched as the four looked at him with hints of suspicion on their faces. Fortunately, after a while, they shrugged his shoulders and found nothing odd about it, deciding to continue where their previous conversation left off.
"So, with the monster tide now cleared, what are you planning to do next, Valyr?" While everyone in the village was enjoying their food within the village inn, where the celebration was being held, Alfaera decided to ask this question to Valyr, hoping to satiate her curiosity. "Also, would you come back for the next monster tide?"
"Now that's the monster tide's done, I plan to head back to where I was before." In response to Alfaera's words, Valyr pondered over both questions in silence. "As for whether or not I'd come back for the next monster tide and help defend… we'll have to see in the future."
"I see." At those words, Alfaera merely nodded before deciding to return her focus on the food on their table. Sometime later, the others that were listening in on the conversation had returned to their food as well, prompting Valyr to grab a bit more food in response.
Ding!
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but are you heading back to Algerie Kingdom by any chance?" Just as he was about to take a bite of the food he'd grabbed, a notification sound resounded in his mind, causing Valyr to take a look at it, only to find out that it was a message. Though, once he found out that this message came from Alfaera, a look of slight confusion appeared on his face as he looked at the woman, only to notice that she was gesturing for him to remain silent.
Faintly nodding in response, Valyr went ahead and sent back a message of his own. "I am… but how did you know?"
"Mind us for intruding in your conversation, but let me answer that question." Surprisingly, Tristan was the one who responded to Valyr's question, prompting the latter to realize that Alfaera had made a group chat. "Sometime ago, a group from the Imperial Production Guild came to the village to ask for your whereabouts."
"Really? What are their names?" Raising his eyebrow in curiosity, Valyr asked back.
"Only the leader of the group had given his name. If I remember correctly, he said his first name was Braum." In response to the question, Damian took the chance to respond to it, prompting Valyr to take a look at Myst, who still seemed to be engrossed in eating her food. With that, he quickly came to the conclusion that only the three he were talking to at the moment had come across the group from the Imperial Production Guild.
"Braum, huh?" Hearing the name of the man who had been helping him a lot ever since he arrived at Algerie City, a faint smile adorned Valyr's face as he asked the three of them more about what had transpired during the appearance of the group in the village.
With that, Tristan took the initiative, telling him about how they were on the lookout for his whereabouts, only to inform the three of them soon after about the reasons, such as his Mythic blacksmith class, and how the Blacksmith Guild had done a test on Valyr beforehand.
"Did they say anything else after that?" As someone who had heard it from the source, Valyr nodded at Tristan's explanation, only to ask after the latter was done if they had mentioned anything else.
"Not really." With him receiving a response like that from Tristan, Valyr nodded once more before proceeding to end the conversation there, allowing himself and the others to enjoy the ambience and the food prepared for the celebration once more.
…
"Say, Damian. Mind if you distribute my contribution points evenly amongst all of the members in the regiment?" As the five were about to head off their separate ways, Valyr stopped Damian before the latter could make his way back to the barracks, asking the latter for a favor. "I feel like the points would have greater use under their hands."
"Are you sure?" Raising his eyebrows in curiosity, Damian asked Valyr in response if he was sure. Seeing that the latter had no qualms about it, the man shrugged his shoulders before proceeding to do so, prompting Valyr to give the man thanks before they truly separated ways.
"Haah…" Letting out a low sigh as he took a look at the night sky, Valyr slowly walked through the streets of the village, imprinting the sight into memory as he thought about how long of a time would pass before he'd be able to return to this place. "I wonder if I could even return to this place at all."
"Either way, this is the path I've chosen, so there's no point in turning back." Taking in a deep breath, the expression on Valyr's face changed into that of determination as he eventually walked through the village gates, stopping around a kilometer away.
Bringing out the medallion he had been given before he teleported to the village, Valyr took in another deep breath, only to turn around and mutter a few words before proceeding to infuse his mana into the medallion.
"Guess we'll see each other again in the future."
"Farewell for now."
Whoosh!
